Before You Stay at Home: Factors to Consider

For many parents, the decision to quit their job and stay at home with the kids is a financial one. Of course, not every parent wants to stay at home with the kids. For those who do, however, they eagerly turn in their two weeks notice as soon as they figure out if their budget will allow it. However, there are actually some other factors that you may want to consider before you quit your job.

Adult Time

Many parents who quit their jobs go from a situation where they are around adults throughout the day to a situation where they may go for many long hours during the day without talking to an adult. If you stay at home with a baby, you may not have any intelligent conversations throughout the day. This is one of the most difficult aspects of transitioning from a working parent to a stay at home parent for many people.

Filling Your Days

You also want to consider how you will fill your days. Your kids may have gone from a day environment of being surrounded by kids to only have siblings, or no kids at all, to talk to and play with regularly. You can set up play dates and join play groups, but these cannot possibly fill all of the hours of the day. It can take some planning to fill up your kids’ hours with fun, engaging activities. If you have heard stay at home parents say that they do indeed have a job, this is one aspect of it.

Hidden Costs

Even with the best budgeting practices and discipline, you should be aware that there may be some hidden costs to staying at home that you should consider. Many parents like to put their preschool-age kids in a structured program so they can make a smooth transition to kindergarten. Many play groups and play dates are held out houses, but others are held in venues that require you to pay money. Even the library often has an annual membership fee. You also want to stock your house with art supplies, play dough, or whatever other activities will keep your kids busy and engaged during the day. These are costs that you likely were not paying when you were working outside of the house and that you may not have planned for.

In most cases, these are not factors that will dissuade you from quitting your job and spending more time with your kids like you want to. However, you do want to be fully prepared and know what to expect before you make your final decision.

Here are a few other articles written by this author:

How Positive is Your Parenting?

Helping Your Kids Through Fights with Friends

Kids and Friend Drama: When to Step In


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